What we do

  • Anish Madhavan
    Head, Field Operations Support

    While my own individual contribution may only have a limited direct impact, the understanding that it is contributing to a larger organizational strategy that has more than a good chance of impacting education in our country in a positive and long-lasting manner gives me satisfaction.
  • Geetika Bhandari
    Barmer District Institute

    As part of the assessment team, I have the opportunity to interact with teachers and students from different districts across India. It has helped in shaping my perspectives on education and deepened my understanding of issues faced by teachers. This in turn has only strengthened my belief in the Foundation’s vision and my resolve to continue to work in this field.
  • Paresh Kumar Pandya
    Leader, Rajsamand District Institute

    I like the work culture of the Foundation where you have the freedom to explore within a large well-defined scope. It is a great opportunity to work with people from different domains. Here I have an opportunity to work and grow as interacting with the teachers and leading our team requires me to be constantly updated on the field of education.
  • Madhav Krishna
    Leader, Almora District Institute

    Born and brought up in the hills of Uttarakhand, I always wanted to work here and to have the opportunity to be working for such a cause here, is almost like a dream. What has been a constant motivator for me over the past 5-6 years in the Foundation is the feeling of being able to do something new every day, the value given to ideas and the space available for dialogue. Individuals and their thoughts are greatly valued here, which is one of the most beautiful things about this organization.
  • Shubha HK
    Manager- Education for the Children of Migrant Labour (ECML)

    I am faced with challenges every day and at the same time I have a lot of freedom, opportunity and timely guidance to address them. I have plenty of opportunities to explore, to express, to experiment, to learn, to know, to enjoy. Every day brings a new lesson about working with children and parents of the migrant community at large. I continue to learn through this experience.
  • Harish Shah
    Head, Infrastructure Management Function

    While various aspects of my job are more or less similar to the corporate world, there is immense peace and satisfaction that I am able to use my experience and skills to indirectly contribute to a better education for children.
  • Sowmya N
    Mandya District Institute

    What I appreciate most about the organisation is that every employee is required to spend 25% of his/her time in self capacity building to contribute in a more effective manner in the field. There is an opportunity for everyone to learn and grow.

Our Vision, Purpose, Mission

Vision

Facilitate a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society

Over-arching purpose

Societal Change

Enablers

Education - both direct impact and a large positive multiplier

Mission

Have deep, at-scale and institutionalised impact on the quality of education in India.

The primary goal of the Foundation is to contribute to a society that is “a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society” as envisaged in the Constitution of India. Towards this goal, we have identified education as a critical area that has direct impact on the economic, social and cultural development of the nation.

In order to concretize our vision we have established two institutions - Field Institutes and Azim Premji University.

Field Institutes

We believe that the most important change leaders for improving education quality are (a) the teacher and (b) the education administrator. The Field Institutes are district level institutions that work in collaboration with the government school system on improving the capacities of teachers, school leaders, teacher educators and other education officials. This is facilitated through multiple modes of engagements - workshops, informal learning groups, Teacher Learning Centres, exposure visits, seminars, melas, etc. In addition we also work at the state-level to create enabling conditions for change. This is through building capacities of senior administrative and academic leaders, curriculum development, support for in-service teacher education processes and policy related work. At present we have Field Institutes in 45 districts across six states and one union territory. To know more about the Field Institutes, click here.

Azim Premji University

Azim Premji University was established in Karnataka by the Azim Premji University Act 2010 as a not-for-profit University. The University was founded as one of the key responses to the constraints and challenges that the Foundation encountered in education and as part of a larger strategy to contribute to the education and development sectors in the country. The University administers Masters and Doctorate level teaching programmes, conducts research, and engages with the world of practice. There are close linkages between our work in the field and the University to ensure a strong two-way connection between theory, research and actual practice. To know more about the University, click here.

Key Beliefs

  • We work with government rural schools primarily because almost all of India‘s under-privileged children study here. We believe in supplementing the work of the government not substituting it.
  • Our aim is to change the public education system rather than create “islands of excellence”. We believe it is important to raise the level of a large lake by one inch rather than fill a small glass of water. Therefore achieving scale along with quality is a key principle that informs our work.
  • We believe that accountability, performance, results and concern for facts are critical to our work. While we do acknowledge the importance of results, ours is not a short-term approach meant merely to generate results. We see our work as a serious, long-term commitment. Such work demands establishing a deep-rooted presence in the places where we work (via setting up of field institutions) and engaging on a continuous basis with the public education system to facilitate change.
  • We do not view our work as social work, philanthropy or charity – we are an organization of professionals who have come together to try and address a very large and complex issue.

To know more about the challenges facing the education system in India, click here.